Excited to give feedback about the recent seminar you attended or performance review of your subordinate? The process of giving and receiving feedback is a part of our daily routine. Knowingly or unknowingly, we keep giving and receiving feedback about various activities happening around us. Feedback in any organisation is crucial for the growth of subordinates. And so is for superiors. Feedback is nothing but the transmission of information about any internal activities or business processes through one’s own experience.
A regular feedback sessions lead to a productive work environment, encourages employees to take initiatives, make decisions and take ownership too.
Leadership becomes effective only when managers are able to receive feedback about how they are perceived by their subordinates.
In upward feedback, the receiver should take the information positively. Dinesh Maheshwari, director, Nimbark Fashion, says, “Managers should understand that feedback from their subordinates is just the information that subordinates have gathered from their working experience. Even if there is a negative exchange of views, managers should not take it personally. Instead, they should try to reach deeper into the roots of such perceptions. Thus, proper communication between giver and receiver is important.”
This is the information passed on from managers to their subordinates for the performance in the organisation. Here, the managers are the feedback givers and subordinates are the receivers.
Shedding some light on how a leader should handle one of his employees when he has made a mistake or his behaviour needs correction, Mike Glover, ex-MD, Lafarge India, says, “Employees do need to understand that they can make mistakes. If employees feel that their organisations deal with mistakes as though they are unacceptable, the organisation itself stands to lose a lot. This stifles innovation and change and is harmful for the bosses instead as they won’t be challenged and will make mistakes in total ignorance.”
High-quality feedback and language often lead to constructive solutions that would not let the employees lose their essence and direction. Managers should understand that any particular mistake from an employee could be due to lack of ignorance. Elaborating on this, Glover adds, “In the context of mistake or behavior, one should try to understand to what extent have other factors contributed say a lack of training and understanding of the issue and the behavior of others. In some cases, the culture of the organisation itself can yield behavioral consequences.”
There is also a third type of feedback in organisations that are fast-paced and have a large number of employees. In such a scenario, a one-way feedback session is replaced by multi-directional feedback and viewpoint sharing. These days employees’ performance is evaluated by calculation of self-assessment, team briefings, managers’ feedback and peer’s review making it a 360-degree feedback.
Best practices incorporate feedback
Using modern channels like emails, forms and surveys for getting feedback will keep the purpose tact and wouldn’t adversely influence the feedback session by avoiding voice tone, gestures, expressions, etc. Also, by removing all communication barriers between the employees of the organisation, there is increased scope of good interaction sessions between the managers and subordinates and among colleagues to lessen personal-biased perceptions.
Constructive suggestions, solution-based meetings and unbiased exchange of information will make corporate feedback effective.
WHAT YOU GIVE, YOU GET
- Leadership becomes effective when managers receive feedback about how they are perceived by their subordinates
- Even if there is a negative exchange of views, managers, subordinates should not take it personally
The writer is executive coach & owner of www.thechrysallis.com
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Feedbacks")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}